Lowndes on pole at Winton

Lowndes produced a 1m22.0979s lap to beat Steven Johnson's Dick Johnson Ford to the top spot.

"We can flow the car really well here this weekend," said Lowndes. "I've got Stevie Johnson on the front row besides me and he starts well, so I'll have to pull my socks up."

Lowndes' team-mate Jamie Whincup starts third, ahead of Lee Holdsworth, Paul Dumbrell and a career-best qualifying result from David Reynolds in sixth, with Fabian Coulthard next up.

Ford Performance Racing duo Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison were back in eighth and ninth, but they fared better than the HRT cars as Garth Tander and James Courtney only managed 11th and 19th.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car              Time        Gap
 1.  Craig Lowndes        Triple 8 Holden       1m22.0979s
 2.  Steven Johnson       Dick Johnson Ford     1m22.1566s  + 0.0587s
 3.  Jamie Whincup        Triple 8 Holden       1m22.2168s  + 0.1189s
 4.  Lee Holdsworth       Garry Rodgers Holden  1m22.2590s  + 0.1611s
 5.  Paul Dumbrell        Rod Nash Ford         1m22.2652s  + 0.1673s
 6.  David Reynolds       Kelly Holden          1m22.3459s  + 0.2480s
 7.  Fabian Coulthard     Walkinshaw Holden     1m22.3595s  + 0.2616s
 8.  Mark Winterbottom    FPR Ford              1m22.4150s  + 0.3171s
 9.  Will Davison         FPR Ford              1m22.4597s  + 0.3618s
10.  Michael Caruso       Garry Rodgers Holden  1m22.4741s  + 0.3762s
11.  Garth Tander         HRT Holden            1m22.4801s  + 0.3822s
12.  Rick Kelly           Kelly Holden          1m22.5005s  + 0.4026s
13.  Alex Davison         Stone Brothers Ford   1m22.5307s  + 0.4328s
14.  Jason Bright         Brad Jones Holden     1m22.5508s  + 0.4529s
15.  Steve Owen           Paul Morris Holden    1m22.6038s  + 0.5059s
16.  Todd Kelly           Kelly Holden          1m22.7002s  + 0.6023s
17.  Tim Slade            Stone Brothers Ford   1m22.7032s  + 0.6053s
18.  Russell Ingall       Paul Morris Holden    1m22.7119s  + 0.6140s
19.  James Courtney       HRT Holden            1m22.7495s  + 0.6516s
20.  Jonathon Webb        Tekno Ford            1m22.7638s  + 0.6659s
21.  James Moffat         Dick Johnson Ford     1m22.8286s  + 0.7307s
22.  Greg Murphy          Kelly Holden          1m22.8317s  + 0.7338s
23.  Jason Bargwanna      Brad Jones Holden     1m22.8342s  + 0.7363s
24.  Shane van Gisbergen  Stone Brothers Ford   1m22.8627s  + 0.7648s
25.  Dean Fiore           Triple F Ford         1m23.0066s  + 0.9087s
26.  Karl Reindler        Birtek Holden         1m23.1020s  + 1.0041s
27.  Tony D'Alberto       D'Alberto Holden      1m23.1112s  + 1.0133s
28.  Warren Luff          Dumbrell Holden       1m23.5547s  + 1.4568s